


"Hey"

by lechathomme



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Character Study, Don't copy to another site, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, I think?, Missing Scene, Southern Water Tribe, help I've never written something short before how do I tag this, there is a criminal lack of these three interacting, these three were best friends and I love them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:34:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26488021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lechathomme/pseuds/lechathomme
Summary: A collection of moments between these three over the years.Alternate Title: Seal Oil and Grief
Relationships: Bato & Hakoda & Kya (Avatar), Bato & Hakoda (Avatar), Bato & Kya (Avatar), Hakoda & Kya (Avatar), Hakoda/Kya (Avatar)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 22





	1. Help?

_“Hey.”_

_“Batoooo~.”_

_“Bato, Bato, Bato~.”_

_“Ba-”_

“Whatever it is, Hakoda, I am _not_ helping you with it.”

_“But Baaaaaa-tooooooo~,”_ Hadoka draped himself over the other boy’s lap, “No one else’ll help me~!”

“Kya turn down whatever stupid idea you have already?”

He glared indignantly.

“You don’t know a spirits-damned thing about what Kya says to me.”

_“Right,”_ Bato pushed him away with a roll of his eyes, “So that’s a yes, then.”

Hakoda sat back up, lookingly pleadingly.

_“Please?_ Bato, I _really_ need help here.”

“That depends.”

“On?”

“Did you already do the thing?”

Hakoda swallowed nervously.

Bato sighed exasperatedly, bringing a hand to his temple.

“...and how much time do we have to hide it from your dad..?”

“He went out hunting with a group of men a few hours ago.”

“And your _mom?”_

“With any luck, Kya’s helping her repair some parkas from my _last_ stupid idea.”

“Surprised she isn’t making _you_ help.”

“Kya owes me a favor.”

“Leaving _me_ to clean up today’s mess?”

“Hey, that’s what you get for being my best friend!” Hakoda brought an arm around his shoulders, pulling him in with an appreciative hug.

_“You’re_ not my best friend,” he pushed the boy away once more, “Kya is.”

_“What!?”_ Hakoda winced back in mock hurt, “After _all_ we’ve been through- you choose _Kya_ over _me!?”_

“Oh, you’d better _believe it,_ ‘Koda.”

Kya stepped in, brushing snow from her shoulders.

_“We’re_ not the ones that spilled seal oil _all over_ those poor baby polar dogs.”

“That was _one time!!!”_

“You have any idea how awful it was trying to clean a dozen of those wriggling things slicked in oil!?” She walked over, dropping a handful of snow on Hakoda as she passed. “Bato and I smelled like blubber for _months!!!”_

“It’s not like _I_ got off scot free!!! Mom made me babysit those two newborns for like a month after that- just to keep me out of our tent!!!”

“They’re like _three_ _years old,_ ‘Koda,” Kya sat down between the two, “they’re _hardly_ newborns, you giant baby.” She threw an arm around Bato, “Just admit you hate kids and didn’t make the cut for ‘Bato’s Best Friend.’”

Hakoda crossed his arms with a pout.

“My hypothetical kids _really_ take offense to that, y’know.”

“My condolences to your hypothetical kids for having to deal with their father.”

_“Hey-!!!”_ He launched a messy snowball at Bato. “Not nice!!! My hypothetical kids _love_ me!!!””

“Hypothetically.”

Hakoda leaned back into the snow with an exasperated whine.

“Kya, why are you even _here-_ shouldn’t you be helping my mom sew up whatever?”

She scoffed playfully.

“You think that woman ever needs _help_ sewing? Give your mom some credit, ‘Koda. She finished those up _ages_ ago.”

The boys froze.

Hakoda sat up very slowly.

“She’s… _not_ sewing right now..?”

Kya tilted her head at the sudden mood shift.

“N-no? What’s with the-?”

Her expression widened.

_“Hakoda, you_ **_didn’t.”_ **

“I did.”

“After I already-!?”

“He did.”

_“Gyah~!”_ She shoved her face into her hands before rushing to her feet, “Hakoda, you are _so_ lucky you’re my other best friend.”

She grabbed their wrists, roughly pulling them along behind her as she sprinted down the hill.

_“NOW WHAT DID YOU_ **_DO_ ** _TO THOSE PENGUINS!?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This started because I had a distinct vision of these three being young, dumb teens together and I couldn't stop thinking about it.  
> Also: MY FIRST EVER THING THAT ISN'T AN ETERNITY LONG, I'M SO PROUD OF MYSELF


	2. Hypothetically

“Hey.”

Hakoda looked over, Bato’s shoulder bumping him out of his thoughts.

“Hey.”

“You’re looking pretty anxious there.” 

_ “Well,” _ he weakly shrugged, leg bouncing frantically with nervous energy, “My hypothetical kids… aren’t so  _ hypothetical _ anymore.”

“Kya’ll be fine, Hakoda. She’s a strong lady, and your mother’s looking after her. There’s not a more capable duo in this whole world than those two.”

“I know.” He sighed, curling up tighter. “It’s not her I’m worried about.”

Bato raised a brow at him.

“You nervous ‘bout  _ yourself? _ That’s a first.”

_ “Bato.” _

Hakoda sighed, shoving his head in his arms.

“Hey, hey.” 

Bato scooted in closer, throwing an arm around him.

“You’ll do  _ fine, _ Hakoda. You will.”

“I’m not exactly known for my  _ wise _ decisions-”

“You  _ did _ drop seal oil on a bunch of puppies again.”

“That was  _ two times!”  _ He briefly picked his head up to glare.

“Three, actually. The third time, you slipped and blacked out, so we didn’t make you help clean them up.”

Hakoda scoffed, scrunching back up into his arms.

Bato frowned, pulling him a little closer.

“Seriously, though- you don’t need to worry about this.  _ Trust me, _ with all the things you can worry about as chief, you can drop this one. Like you said before- your hypothetical kids’ll love you. And as much as I hate to admit it, your hypotheses haven’t been  _ wrong _ before.”

Hakoda stalled, focusing silently on something in the distance.

“...even the penguin thing?”

_ “Hey,” _ Bato looked sternly at him. “Don’t let this go to your head. I said you haven’t been  _ wrong-  _ not that they were all good ideas. Did giving the penguins spears make them better fighters? Yes. Should you have ever done that?  _ Absolutely not.” _

“But hey,” he dropped the scowl, expression softening into something more sincere, “if Kya didn’t leave you over armed penguins and greasy puppies, I don’t think there’s a single thing you could do that could get that woman to leave you now.” He smiled, “And the same goes for me- I’d sooner walk straight into the Fire Nation than let you mess up that kid. Not that you  _ would, _ of course. Just… given your track record of babies and seal oil…” he trailed off pointedly.

Hakoda elbowed him sharply with a hidden grin.

Bato grabbed his side with a cheerful grunt.

_ “There’s  _ your bite, Chief. Remember- your second best friend’s always around to help if you stop being stubborn enough for  _ one minute _ to admit you need it.”

“We’re  _ still _ secondary best friends?” Hakoda looked incredulously as Bato stood. 

“Kya’s  _ your _ wife,” he held out a hand to help him up, “but still  _ my _ best friend. There’s only so many times you can wash oil off a bunch of dogs with a woman before you two are inseparable.”

“Well, you’re  _ welcome _ for keeping your friendship together.”

Bato elbowed him back, both breaking away as a sharp cry cut through the air.

“Sounds like your kid’s a whole lot more thetical now, Chief.” He firmly patted the other man’s back. “Go on. I’m sure Kya’d hate if you kept her waiting.”

_ “Pff-” _ Hakoda scoffed, grabbing his wrist and pulling him in the tent alongside him, “Like  _ you’re _ getting out of tired Kya’s ramblings  _ that _ easy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's only one chapter later and I already miss those dumb teens.


	3. Raided

“...hey.”

“I uh…”

“I talked to Kanna.”

Bato sat down.

Hakoda didn’t look over. 

“...is…” Bato fell silent, struggling to even say the words. 

“...did they…”

_ “...she’s really..?” _

Hakoda closed his eyes with a pained expression.

He nodded shakily.

Bato sat back, letting out a long, slow breath.

“...oh…”

He fell silent once more, not really registering the news.

Really, they  _ both _ half-expected Kya to walk out and break the tension- drop snow on their heads and scold them for sitting around when there’s work to do, cleaning up the village.

She didn’t, though.

Bato let out another breath, unsure of anything else to do.

_ “...oh…” _

He leaned against the snow wall, sitting in silence and deciding not to think about how it  _ definitely _ smelled like burnt flesh.

_ “...Katara saw.” _

_“Oh_ ** _spirits,”_** Bato shoved his face in his hands, **_“that’s_** _why she was so shaken up.”_

Hakoda shook his head, burying himself in his arms.

Bato fought the urge to do the same.

Kya wouldn’t want  _ both _ of them wallowing in despair.

Kya wouldn’t…

Bato pulled Hakoda into a gentle, yet decisive hug.

Hakoda buried his head into the man’s chest, grieving, however silently.

Kya was always much better at comforting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's that angst I have tagged.


	4. Sailing

“Hey.”

Hakoda jumped, shaking the half-sleep from his mind.

“Hey…” he wiped the heel of his palm against his eyes, trying to wake up, “...there’s… not _more_ bad news, is there?”

Bato frowned.

“That depends… when was the last time you slept?”

“Um…” he glanced away, half-trying to actually remember the answer, half-trying to stall because it wouldn’t be a _good_ one.

Bato sighed dejectedly, walking over to the desk.

“You can’t keep doing this to yourself, Hakoda.” He pried the other man’s hands away from the ink and scrolls, “These orders will still be here in the morning, I promise.”

“I can do them now. The sooner they’re out, the better. You _know_ how those Earth Kingdom generals get without their ‘immediate support.’”

Bato rolled his eyes.

“Well, they’re gonna get a lot _less_ support of any kind if they insist on working our Chief to _death._ ” He shoved aside a roll of parchment, “Did you at least eat the stew I brought earlier?”

“Um..?”

He glanced away again, fully trying to remember if he did.

Bato stared at him, unimpressed.

“Okay,” he slapped a hand down on the desk before turning the corner around it, “that’s enough of this.”

Before Hakoda could spit out a confused ask, Bato lifted the man over his shoulder.

_“Hey-!!!”_ He squawked out, caught off guard and fully awake by the action.

Bato plopped him down on the adjoining hammock with a grunt of effort.

“What, didn’t think I could still do that?”

“Not _all_ of us are ludicrously strong in our old age, you absurd _beast_ of a man.”

Bato stifled a laugh, grabbing a bowl from behind him and shoving it over.

“Those of us that _are_ eat and sleep.”

He tsked, shaking his head.

“What would _Kya_ think if she…”

Bato trailed off, as though suddenly realizing he had said something wrong.

Hakoda hesitated, bringing the bowl away from his lips.

“...she’d… probably throw me over her shoulder and force stew down my throat.”

He smiled timidly, handing the now empty bowl back.

Bato returned the smile with a more sincere grin.

“Yeah… she probably would.”

He put the bowl back on the desk before straightening up and crossing his arms with a firm look.

“And then she’d stand here and glare at you until you actually fell asleep.”

Hakoda scoffed.

“And you plan to do the same?”

Bato glared softly.

“No sneaking out of this one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ONE! CHAPTER! LEFT!


	5. Proud

“Hey!”

“Bato!?”

Hakoda rushed over to embrace the man.

“Hey, Chief! Glad to see you didn’t keel over in the worst the Fire Nation had to offer.”

Hakoda scoffed, pulling back.

“I could say the same to you. Are the others-?”

“They’re here too.” He cut him off with a reassurance.

Hakoda sighed deeply with relief, keeping a hand firmly on the other man, as though afraid he’d disappear if he ever let go.

Bato placed a just as solid grip on his shoulder, seemingly sharing the sentiment.

“There’s rumors going around about Sokka, you know.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Hakoda clicked his tongue, “They say he broke his leg while taking out an entire fleet of Fire Nation Airships.”

_ “Huh.” _

_ “Yep.” _

“Anything about Katara?”

“She’s here- apparently the soon to be Fire Lord got struck by lightning while they were fighting the princess. I think she’ll be busy for a while.”

Bato let out a low whistle.

“...your kids helped save the world, Hakoda.”

He scoffed, a strange mixture of disbelief and pride… and grief.

“...Kya would be  _ so _ proud of them.”

“Yeah… she might’ve even been proud enough to forgive  _ you _ for that time you let them near those newborn polar dogs with all that seal oil.”

Hakoda laughed- loud and sincere- for the first time since they’d all been together last.

“Not even the end of a century long war would’ve gotten her to forgive me for  _ that.” _

_ “Dad!!!” _

They turned to see two shapes cloaked in blue bounding steadily towards them.

Kya would’ve been so proud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FIRST SHORT WORK  
> DONE  
> WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  
> HIT ME UP ON TUMBLR: https://catman-draws.tumblr.com/  
> THANKS FOR READING!!!!!!!!!!!


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